Roberts scores twice as Pens topple Boston

Monday

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gary Roberts had two goals and linemate Georges Laraque also scored to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gary Roberts had two goals and linemate Georges Laraque also scored to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

Roberts and Laraque also had an assist, and Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh, which scored twice in a 30-second span late in the second period. Erik Christensen finished with two assists.

The Penguins also beat Boston 5-4 in a shootout on Thursday.

P.J. Axelsson and Petteri Nokelainen scored for the Bruins, who have lost four in a row.

The Bruins scored the first goal for the 22nd time in their 35 games but fell to 15-4-3 in those games. Zdeno Chara's slap shot from the right point caromed off Pittsburgh goalie Ty Conklin's chest early in the first period, and Axelsson slammed in the rebound.

Roberts tied it 2:16 into the second when he pushed in a feed from Laraque while standing in the slot. It was the 41-year-old's second goal of the season and first since Oct. 17.

Malkin's goal was a slap shot from above the right face-off circle while on the power play 13:04 into the second period. Jordan Staal and Sergei Gonchar assisted on Malkin's 14th goal of the season.

Thirty seconds later, Laraque scored the 50th goal of his nine-year career — and second of the season — when he tapped in Roberts' feed while skating hard to the net on a 2-on-2 to make it 3-1.

Conklin finished with 28 saves.

NEW YORK — Chris Kelly snapped a second-period tie, and Martin Gerber came back from a day off to lead Ottawa over Sean Avery and New York.

Gerber, who sat out the Senators' 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago at home on Saturday night, made 34 saves to earn his fourth win in five outings. He gave up Scott Gomez's goal 3:42 in and then held off New York the rest of the way.

Jason Spezza and Kelly wiped out an early deficit for the Senators, who lead the Eastern Conference with 50 points (23-8-4). Ottawa got back to its winning ways after going 0-1-1 following six straight victories.

Mike Fisher made it 3-1 when his shot from the right point, after a turnover by New York's Chris Drury, hit Rangers defenseman Marc Staal and caromed in at 9:08 of the third period. The Senators took the season series 3-1 and have won 16 of 20 from the Rangers since the 2002-03 season.

Avery returned to the Rangers after missing 11 games following wrist surgery. He jawed and jostled and hit anyone he could starting from his first shift in the opening 2 minutes. It just wasn't enough.

ST. LOUIS — Marian Hossa scored on a break-in at 19 seconds of overtime after a defensive mistake, and Ilya Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 29th goal for Atlanta.

Hossa swept in alone on goalie Manny Legace after Jay McKee fumbled the puck in the air and then lost control after Eric Perrin flipped it into the St. Louis zone.

The Thrashers have won four in a row, beating Montreal by the same score in a shootout Saturday, after losing their previous four games, and won in St. Louis for the first time in franchise history.

Kovalchuk has 25 goals and 16 assists in the last 28 games for the Thrashers, who climbed above .500 at 18-17-1. Mark Recchi tied it in the third period with his fourth goal in seven games since being claimed off re-entry waivers on Dec. 8.

Keith Tkachuk had a goal and an assist for the Blues, giving him six points in three games. Barret Jackman added his first goal of the season.

CHICAGO — Defenseman Brent Seabrook had his first two-goal game in the NHL, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 25 saves for Chicago.

Seabrook's second goal, at 1:20 of the third period, broke a 2-2 tie. His drive from the right wing beat goalie Mathieu Garon on the short side.

Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks in their third straight victory.